The town of Pearl River has moved a bit closer to its goal of building a new water tower in the Village of Guthrie.

Resolutions passed Tuesday evening by the Board of Aldermen during its regular monthly meeting will ultimately enable the town to build the 250,000-gallon tower near the intersection of U.S. Highway 11 and Louisiana Highway 1090. The resolutions included a vote authorizing Mayor James Lavigne to go before the state Bonding Commission to request a bond issue of up to $2 million for the project, which will also install a well and a 12-inch water line.

Also approved was a resolution to purchase the property, consisting of Lots 7 and 8 just behind the McDonald’s restaurant, for $30,000, as well as a resolution to annex the lots into the town’s corporate limits. A fourth resolution gave Lavigne the green light to engage an engineer to draw up plans and place the project up for bids. All four votes were unanimous, with the exception of the bond commission vote, from which Alderman Jay Scroggins abstained, citing his uncertainty over the estimates for the proposed costs of the project.

In other business, resident Bud Schultheis was given approval to fill in a ditch on his Ash Street property and install subsurface drainage.

Schultheis said the current culvert is clogged with dirt, and he is not physically able to clean it out himself. While the town has offered to blow out the pipe and clean the ditch, the solution, he said, would be to fill it in, which would also enable him to cross the area on his riding lawn mower.

He has appeared before the council with his request on several different occasions but has faced strong opposition from Lavigne. Alderman Virgil Phillips previously suggested Schultheis draw up plans from a licensed engineer, which he reviewed prior to Tuesday’s meeting.

The plans seem to indicate the feasibility of the project. However, the mayor stated he has turned down many similar requests from other residents in the vicinity and feels if it is allowed to proceed, severe drainage problems could result.

“We’ve never had any drainage problems on that side of town,” said Lavigne. “If everyone starts filling in their ditches, that street will flood during the first hard rain.”

The project was approved 4-1, with Alderman David McQueen voting against it.

The meeting closed with Alderman Virgil Phillips responding to a letter presented by Pearl River resident Tim Marshall at last month’s meeting involving his grievances with Fire District 11 and its Board of Commissioners. Marshall apparently is not satisfied with the results of a February fact-finding mission, in which three aldermen met with the board and reviewed documents but could find no evidence of wrongdoing.

Phillips plans to meet personally with FD11 Chief Robbie Crowe to review more documents and address several points raised in the letter in the hopes of laying the issue to rest.

Phillips also gave an update on preparations for the upcoming Family Fest, to be held Saturday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.